Safety catch



R. L. WELLS SAFETY CATCH Jan. 3, 15339.

Fi led Novf 7, 1955 n Rag k 2 R Y 06 E v T N m m v T h Patented Jan. 3,1939 I SAFETY CATCH Raymond L. Wells, Attleboro, Mass, assignor to WellsManufacturing Company, Attleboro, Mass, a corporation of MassachusettsApplication November 7, 1935, Serial No. 48,707

4 Claims.

This invention relates to improvements in safety retaining clasps orcatches for use With pin stems and the like.

One of the principal objects of the invention is to provide an improvedsafety retaining clasp or catch for use with pin stems and the like.

Another object is to provide an improved automatically operating safetyretaining clasp. or catch for use with pin stems and the like that willtemporarily lock the stem in place when it is pushed into the clasp orcatch and which has additional means which may be manually rotated topermanently lock the stem in said clasp or catch whereby rotary movementof the permanent lock means in a direction opposite to its lockingmovement will cause the stem to be ejected from the clasp or catch.

Another object is to provide a simple, eihcient and inexpensive safetyclasp or catch having a novel double lock arrangement wherein one ofsaid locks operates automatically and the other operates manually.

Another object is to provide an improved guard for the end of the pinstem.

Another object is to provide a clasp or catch which has a wide varietyof uses and which is provided with means by which it may be quickly andeasily secured to the means with'which it is to be used.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent fromthe following description taken in connection with the accompanyingdrawing, and it will be apparent that many changes may be made in thedetails of construction and arrangements of parts shown and describedwithout departing from the spirit of the invention as set forth in theaccompanying claims, I, therefore, do not Wish to be limited to theexact details of construction shown and described as the preferred formsonly have been shown and described by way of illustration.

Referring to the drawing:

Fig. I is an enlarged perspective view of the clasp or catch embodyingthe invention, showing it applied to a bar type breast pin and with theparts of the clasp or catch opened out to show their construction;

Fig. II is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view of clasp or catchembodying the invention, showing the parts thereof in assembled relationand secured to the bar pin;

Fig. III is an enlarged sectional view taken on line III--III of Fig.II, showing the pin entering the safety clasp or catch;

Fig. IV is a view similar to Fig. 111 showing the pin pushed into theclasp or catch and showing the automatically functioning emergency lockportion moved over to locked position;

Fig. V is a view similar to Fig. II, showing the permanent lockingportion moved into position;

Fig. VI is a View similar to Fig. III showing a modified form of theinvention.

Some attempts have been made in the past to provide a self locking catchwith manually operable lock means for positively locking the stem in thecatch, but due to the particular type of keeper used with such catchesmuch difficulty was encountered when it was desired to remove the pinstem from the catch. This was due mainly to the face that when thekeeper was turned in the direction of unlocking it would bind with thestem and in most instances unless the keeper was then carefully movedback and forth in the catch it would prevent removal of the stem. Thisprocedure required the use of both hands and was very annoying andtroublesome to the user.

It, therefore, is one of the primary objects of this invention toovercome such difficulties by providing simple and inexpensive means andmethod of making a catch which upon movement of the keeper in thedirection of unlocking will automatically eject the pin stem from thecatch.

Referring more particularly to the drawing wherein like referencecharacters indicate like parts throughout the several views, the deviceembodying the invention is shown in Fig. I applied to an ordinary bartype pin comprising a plate I having a hinge member 2 secured thereto bysolder or other suitable means. The hinge member 2 has a pin stem 3pivotally attached thereto as indicated at 4 The hinge has an enlargedintegral base formed, as shown in Fig. I, by folding the metal fromwhich the hinge is formed upon itself to provide protruding flanges 5.This provides a large bottom surface for connection with the plate I.

The clasp or catch embodying the invention comprises ahousing 6 having akeeper member I rotatably supported therein. The housing has an enlargedintegral base 8 formed, as shown in Figures I and II, by folding themetal from which the catch is formed upon itself to provide integralprotruding flanges 9 which are secured to the plate I by solder or othersuitable means.

The housing 6 comprises an upright l0 formed with a hollow cup typebearing end portion II in which a guide track l2 formed on the keeper '1is rotatably mounted. The keeper is held in the cup type bearing by aspaced upright I3. The portion H and upright I3 have entrant slots I4and I5 formed therein to provide entrant means for the pin stem 3 intothe keeper 1. In addition to forming bearing means the portion IIprovides guard means for the pointed end I6 of the stem 3.

The keeper, as shown in Figures III, IV and V, has an entrant opening ormouth portion IT, a cam surface I8, a curved slot I9 internally thereofand a hook-like portion 20 adjacent the mouth I1. When the mouth portionI1 is aligned with the slot I5 to receive the pin stem 3, as shown inFig. III, the cam surface I8 lies at an angle to the longitudinal axisof the slot I5 so that when the pinstem 3 is pressed into the slot I5 itwill wedge between the side wall of the slot I5 and cam surface I8 andforce the keeper I to rotate to the position shown in Fig. IV whereinthe hook-like portion 23 will be moved transversely of the slot I5 andautomatically lock the pin stem 3 in the catch. The catch is thenmanually rotated by means of the handle 2| to cause the slotted portionI9 to move about the pin stem, as shown in Fig. V, and cause a solidwall portion 22 of the keeper 1 to be located transversely of the slotI5. This provides positive and more or less permanent lock means forsecuring the stem in the catch. It is specifically pointed out that thecam portion I8 extends inwardly of the keeper 1 to a point substantiallyat the effective center of rotation 23 of said keeper and that the slotI5 also extends inwardly to substantially the same point. This providespositive stop means for limiting the movement of the pin stem 3 inwardlyof the keeper 1 and prevents its being moved below the cam surface I8.This arrangement provides means, which when the keeper is moved in adirection opposite its locking movement, as indicated by the arrows 24,whereby the cam surface l8 will move into engagement with the lower orunder surface of the pin stem 3 and through its under pressure with thestem and through the wedging action of the stem against the side wall ofthe slot I5 will cause the said stem to be automatically ejected fromthe catch.

In Fig. VI there is shown a modified form of the invention wherein thehousing 33 is provided with an entrant slot 34 at the side thereofinstead of along its vertical axis as shown in Fig. III. The remainingdetails of construction are substantially the same as the constructionshown in Fig. III, only in this instance the keeper 35 is provided witha projection 36 with which the pin stem 31 engages when it is forceddown the side of the housing towards the entrant slot 34. This rotatesthe keeper 35 and aligns its entrant mouth 38 with the slot 34 toreceive the stem.

The function of the catch from this point on is the same as that of theconstruction shown in Fig. III.

It is again pointed out that the success of the present device is dueprimarily to the unique structure of the keeper I and its cooperativerelation with the keeper housing and the entrant slots in said housing.

For a more specific study of some of the salient features of the presentdevice, reference is made to Fig. III, wherein it is specificallypointed out that the entrant slot I5 is formed in the housing 6 so thatits longitudinal axis 56 extends through the geometrical center of thebearing portion of the cup II, and through the effective center ofrotation of the keeper 1 as indicated at 23. It is also pointed out thatthe length of the slot I5 is limited so that its innermost point extendssubstantially to said effective center 23.

When the keeper is positioned in the housing to receive the pin stem, asshown in Fig. III, the cam surface I8 extends inwardly of the slot I5 atan angle 51 relative to the longitudinal axis 56 of the slot. The saidcam surface I8 extends substantially to the point 23 and is adapted toremain in substantially radial relation with the said point 23 when thekeeper 1 is rotated in the housing. This radial relation is constantregardless of the position of rotation of the keeper, and insures thatthe cam I8 will move the hook end 20 of the keeper 1 transversely of theslot I5, as shown in Fig. IV, when the pin stem is pressed into thecatch, and also insures that the cam I8 will move inwardly of the slotI5 at the lowermost point 23 of said slot when the keeper is movedbackward or in the direction indicated by the arrows 24-. This backwardmovement causes the cam surface I8 to engage the stem or bar 3 on theunder side thereof, wherein continued backward movement of the keeperwill cause the said cam to force the stem or bar 3 outwardly of the slotI5. The

internal slot I9 is formed to such a curvature that when the stem 3 isin the catch the keeper may be manually moved to bring the solid wallportion 22 transversely of the slot I5 without hindrance from the stem.The curved edge 58 of the slot I9 is carefully blended into the hookportion 20 adjacent one end and into a pocket portion 59 adjacent itsopposite end to provide smooth operation. The pocket portion 59 is soformed that it arches over the pin stem and forms positive means forretaining the said stem in the catch.

A stop face 60 is formed on the handle H to insure that the mouthportion I1 of the keeper properly aligns with the slot I5 when thekeeper is rotated in the direction of unlocking.

From the foregoing it will be seen that I have provided simple,efiicient, and ine'xpense means and method of obtaining all of theobjects and advantages of the invention.

Having described my invention, I claim:

1. In a device of the character described for use with a pin-likemember, a support having a keeper rotatably mounted thereon, said keeperhaving a substantially J -shaped channel with the walls defining saidchannel located outside of r the center or axis of rotation of saidkeeper, said support having an entrant slot defined by a U- shaped wallwith the bight of the U located in substantial alignment with the centeror axis of rotation of the keeper, said J-shaped channel having a mouthportion movable into and out of alignment with the entrant slot in thesupport with one of the side walls of said mouth portion having a camsurface lying in a plane which terminates in a slightly curved portionsubstantially at the center of rotation of the keeper and communicatingwith a locking recess portion having a wall extending in an arcuatecontour substantially radially from the axis of the keeper anddefining'the tipof the J-shaped channel, said keeper being mounted torotate and lock the'end 'of the pin-like member in closed position insaid device when said keeper is moved in one direction and to eject thepin-like member when rotated in the opposite direction.

2. In a, device of the character described for use with a pin-likemember, a support having a circular guideway and a U-shaped slotextending inwardly thereof, a keeper mounted for rotation on saidguideway and having a substantially J- shaped channel therein with thewalls defining said channel located outside of the center or axis ofrotation of said keeper, the bight of the U- shaped slot in said supportbeing located in sub stantial alignment with the center or axis ofrotation of the keeper, said J-shaped channel having a mouth portionmovable into and out of alignment with the U-shaped slot in the supportwith one of the side walls of said mouth portion having a cam surfacelying in a plane which terminates in a slightly curved portionsubstantially at the center of rotation of the keeper and communicatingwith a locking recess portion having a wall extending in an arcuatecontour substantially radially from the axis of the keeper and definingthe tip of the J-shaped channel, said keeper being mounted to rotate andlock the end of the pin-like member in closed position in said devicewhen the said keeper is moved in one direction and to eject the pin-likemember when rotated in the opposite direction.

3. In a device of the character described for use with a pin-likemember, a support having a cup-like bearing portion and a portion havinga U-shaped slot therein, a keeper having a portion mounted for rotationsubstantially concentrically of said bearing and having a substantiallyJ- shaped channel therein with the Walls defining said channel locatedoutside of the center or axis of rotation of said keeper, the bight ofthe U-shaped slot being located in substantial alignment with the centeror axis of rotation of the keeper, said J-shaped channel having a mouthportion movable into and out of alignment with the slot in the supportwith one of the side walls of said mouth portion having a cam surfacelying in a plane which terminates substantially at the center ofrotation of the keeper and communicating with a locking recess portionhaving a wall extending in an arcuate contour substantially radiallyfrom the axis of the keeper and defining the tip of the J-shapedchannel, said keeper being mounted to rotate and lock the end of thepin-like member in closed position in said device when said keeper ismoved in one direction and to eject the pin-like member when rotated inthe opposite direction.

4. In a device of the character described for use with a pin-likemember, a member having spaced supporting portions, one of said portionshaving a circular guideway, and the other a U- shaped slot with thebight of the slot located in substantial alignment with the center ofthe circular guideway, a keeper positioned between said spacedsupporting portions having an integral projection rotatably supported inthe guideway and having a substantially J-shaped channel therein withthe walls defining said channel located outside of the center or axis ofrotation of said keeper, said J-shaped channel having a mouth portionmovable into and out of alignment with the U-shaped slot in the supportwith one of the side walls of said mouth portion having a cam surfacelying in a plane which terminates substantially at the center ofrotation of the keeper and communicating with a locking recess portionhaving a wall extending in an arcuate contour substantially radiallyfrom the axis of the keeper and defining the tip of the J- shapedchannel, said keeper being mounted to rotate and lock the end of thepin-like member in closed position in said device when the said keeperis moved in one direction and to eject the pin-like member when rotatedin the opposite direction.

RAYMOND L. WELLS.

